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A Second-Generation Supersonic TransportEver since the advent of commercial flight vehicles, one goal of designers has been to develop aircraft that can fly faster and carry more passengers than before. After the development of practical supersonic military aircraft, this desire was naturally manifested in a search for a practical supersonic commercial aircraft. The first and, to date, only supersonic civil transport is the Concorde, manufactured by a consortium of British and French aerospace companies. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors, including low passenger capacity and limited range, the Concorde has not been an economic success. It is for this reason that there is considerable interest in developing a design for a supersonic civil transport that addresses some of the inadequacies of the Concorde.

For the design of such an aircraft to be feasible in the near term, certain guidelines must be established at the outset. Based upon the experience with the Concorde, whose 100- passenger capacity is not large enough for profitable operation, a minimum capacity of 250 passengers is desired. Second, to date, because of the limited range of the Concorde, supersonic commercial flight has been restricted to trans-Atlantic routes. In order to broaden the potential market, any new design must have the capability of trans-Pacific flight. A summary of the potential markets involved is presented in Fig. 1. Also, because of both the cost and complexity involved with actively cooling an entire aircraft, an additional design constraint is that the aircraft as a whole be passively cooled.

One additional design constraint is somewhat less quantitative in nature but of great importance nonetheless. Any time a new design is attempted, the tendency is to assume great strides in technology that serve as the basis for actual realization of the design. While it is not always possible to avoid this dependence on "enabling technology," since this design is desired for the near term, it is prudent, wherever possible, to rely on already existing technology. This is of particular importance with respect to support technology such as airport terminals and runways.

Based on the above introductory remarks, a possible approach to the design of a second-generation supersonic civil transport is presented below. The design Mach number for this aircraft is 3.5. This value was chosen as it represents the limiting Mach number in the absence of active cooling. The ensuing design attempts to deal with the particular problems that are the most demanding, while relying on proven technology where it is adequate. The report clearly does not solve, or even deal with, every aspect of the aircraft design. Rather, a general direction is suggested and supported with initial, approximate calculations.
Document ID
19940004547
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
W. Humphrey
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
G. Grayson
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
J. Gump
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
G. Hutko
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
R. Kubicko
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
J. Obrien
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
R. Orndorff
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
R. Oscher
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
M. Polster
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
C. Ulrich
(Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
June 12, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: Proceedings of the 5th Annual Summer Conference: NASA/USRA University Advanced Design Program
Publisher: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Volume: NASA-CR-193012
Issue Publication Date: June 12, 1989
URL: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19940004512
Subject Category
Aircraft Design, Testing And Performance
Meeting Information
Meeting: 5th Annual Summer Conference
Location: Huntsville, AL
Country: US
Start Date: June 12, 1989
End Date: June 16, 1989
Sponsors: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Marshall Space Flight Center
Accession Number
94N71302
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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